Sony disables Windows 7 XP Mode in Vaio laptops

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In the PC world, it makes little sense to make your newest laptops future proof on the BIOS level, but that’s just what Sony is up to with a recent decision to disable hardware virtualization on all current Vaio laptops using Intel Core 2 Duo processors, due to security concerns.

This may seem like an esoteric BIOS setting, but it’s required by any user hoping to use Windows 7’s upcoming Windows XP mode, which allows XP applications to be virtualized without worrying about whether or not they will break, like they might under Windows Vista.

Sony’s response is typically corporate: “[We have] received very little if any requests to enable VT technology up until very recently,” said Xavier Lauwaert, Sony’s Senior Manager for Product Marketing.

“In addition, our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter.”

But that’s not to say they aren’t listening to their customers. “For these two reasons we have decided, until recently, not to enable VT. However, with the advent of XP Virtualization, there is impetus for us to relook at the situation and I can share with you that we will enable VT on select models.”

He continued, “Though, I fear to say that the Z series will not be part of our VT-enabling effort. Indeed, we will focus on more recent models.”
In short, if you are intending on running Windows 7 XP Mode, don’t by a Z series Vaio… at least not without rolling up your sleeves for some deep system hacking.

Speak Your Mind

Screw Sony. Why not make it a BIOS option. No, Sony wants to dictate to us. I say stay informed and don’t buy overpriced Sony laptops.

Cody Jackson

Yet another reason to continue my boycott of Sony products and encourage others to boycott Sony.

Virtualization is supposed to increase security by having the virtual environment sandboxed from the rest of the system. Sure, there may be potential holes, as there always will in technology, but the ability to kill a virtual machine and reload it in case of a security problem is great.